LONGMONT -- Orange and white sparks fly into Kris Luis' face and bounce off the lenses of his dark glasses before they fade.

The smell of superheated metal permeates the shop as the steel frame of a motorcycle begins yielding to its future form to the chugging rhythm of an air compressor powering a grinder that shrieks as it connects.

Luis, 30, owns Full Throttle Custom Cycles at 930 Main St. and spends his day bending metal, mounting chrome and wielding a metallic pallet of paint colors to make the machines in his head a street-legal reality.

He has owned the shop for nine years, and while self-employment can be an unsteady ride, he said it is well worth it.

"I work as many hours as I can get away with and watch my wife and see what kind of face she is making when I get home," he joked.

Winter tends to be slower for his business, with jobs picking up in the spring.

"I don't like working for other people that much," he said. "I kind of line up projects for the winter in case it gets slow."

He has experience as a mechanic and said the real money would be in oil changes and service, but the work doesn't make him happy. Designing the motorcycles and working in his shop alone -- with a part-time assistant, or with the company of friends and clients who just drop by to chat -- suits him just fine.

"Sometimes I need more hands," Luis said. "I have brothers. If I need a hand, they'll come by."

As 2012 draws to a close, the Times-Call takes a look at the people who make our community work, 365 days a year. Through Jan. 2, read about the people whose names and faces might not have been familiar to you, even if the jobs they do are.

Sunday Linda Allour, doughnut maker

Monday Tom Carpenter, piano tuner

Tuesday Jose Chavez, letter carrier

Wednesday Dawn Cavins, crime scene technician

Thursday Kyle Miller, public works director

Friday Larry West, maintainer of school sports facilities

Saturday Deb Romero, blood drawer

Sunday Keith Kendall, wastewater treatment worker

Monday Kris Luis, custom motorcycle builder

Tuesday Clayton Schultz, skydiving pilot

Wednesday Sandy Lenhardt, lunch lady

Luis' skill designing and building the custom motorcycles is self-taught. Most of them start their lives as Harley-Davidsons. He does not design them on paper before getting to work.

Typically, he talks with a customer to find out what he or she wants and then gets to work. Sometimes he will build a motorcycle from scratch, but that adds an extra legal step before it can be used on the roads, he said. The Colorado State Patrol must inspect the motorcycle and assign to it a VIN number.

He has in the shop now the bare bones of a from-the-ground-up bike bound for a swap meet next year. Also parked in the shop are an array of colorful completed motorcycles, including one he owns and has been working on for some time. Flame graphics decorate its black paint and its chrome parts shine.

The tough part is not getting attached, he said.

What about that modified 1982 Harley that is now sporting flames?

"A little bit. Not as much as my family and friends," he said of the attachment. "A lot of them don't think I will sell it. I have got news for them."

Luis flits from one project to the next throughout his day.

His wife, Miranda, said she believes he probably walks 10 miles a day just in the shop from project to project to tool box.

"It is kind of fun to watch the stuff come in, the different stages of everything," she said. "It is pretty crazy. He's always been mechanically inclined."

The couple have been together for 12 years, married for four, and have a 6-month-old son.

He is sure to have the coolest tricycle in the neighborhood when he gets big enough.

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